Press Releases

Canon U.S.A. Supports the Craft of Filmmaking as a Sponsor of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival

PARK CITY, UT, January 17, 2014 – Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, announced today the company will return as a Sustaining Sponsor to the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. The Festival-which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, marking three decades of fostering a vibrant independent film community-will be held in Park City, Salt Lake City, Sundance, and Ogden, Utah from January 16-26, 2014.

The Festival's diverse roster includes nearly 200 films, of which approximately 20 percent were shot using Canon equipment. Blue Ruin, Song One, Memphis, This May Be The Last Time, Cesar's Last Fast, Happy Valley, Last Days in Vietnam, Life Itself, WHITEY: United States of America v. James J. Bulger, Mitt, Alive Inside, and Ivory Tower are just a few of the Canon-shot films screening in 2014.

"Over the last 30 years, Sundance Institute has built a festival that is unrivaled; it is inspiring to be surrounded by the mountains of Park City and the artists and community who are at the peak of their craft, pushing the boundaries of film and artistic expression," said Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies & Communications Group, Canon U.S.A. "At Canon, we are driven by delivering that same level of passion, innovation and commitment to our craft as the filmmakers and are excited to return as a Sustaining Sponsor."

At the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, Canon will host a special slate of programming dedicated to the craft of filmmaking and the artists behind each and every film.

Canon will invite Festival attendees to relax and reboot with fellow cinematographers, directors, and producers at the Canon Craft Services daytime lounge (427 Main Street; open Saturday, January 18th-Monday, January 20th from 11am-5pm), the hub of Canon's Festival activities.

The lounge will offer filmmakers the opportunity to touch-and-try the latest Canon gear, including the Cinema EOS C100, C300, and C500 cameras, cinema lenses, as well as DSLR cameras and professional products such as the XA25 high definition camcorder.

To inspire discussions about the latest storytelling techniques, technology, and trends, Canon will host craft conversations at its lounge, featuring panels of industry leaders and Festival filmmakers. Each panel will cover a different area of interest, ranging from documentary cinematography, to a focus on optics, to skeleton crew filmmaking. The craft conversation series will culminate in the Canon Spotlight: CNN Original Series screening and panel on Monday, January 20th at the Sundance New Frontier Microcinema (136 Heber Ave; 3pm).

Below is the full schedule of events for Canon's activities at the Sundance Film Festival. All events take place at Canon Craft Services (427 Main Street) unless otherwise noted.

Saturday, January 18th

11am-5pm

Canon Craft Services

A daily hub with lively craft conversations, a touch-and-try display of Canon equipment, a place to meet, relax, and reboot with industry colleagues, and coffee and snacks for filmmakers to enjoy.

1pm

Craft Conversation | Optics In Focus

David Klein, ASC (Clerks) and James Laxton (Camp X-Ray, Tusk) have two things in common: a director named Kevin Smith and an affinity for Canon Cinema glass. The DPs talk about their optics must-haves and their experience with Canon Cine Zooms - Klein on Homeland and True Blood and Laxton on Smith's latest Tusk.

Writer, director, and cinematographer of festival favorite Blue Ruin breaks down his journey from corporate video shooter to auteur filmmaker. Get the inside scoop from Jeremy about shooting with a skeleton crew - he makes no bones about why the Cinema EOS C300 camera was the right tool for him.

5pm-6pm

Media Cocktail Hour

Photographers, videographers, crewmembers, journalists, and other members of the media are invited in to escape the cold, mingle, and get refreshed at the lounge.

Sunday, January 19th

11am-5pm

Canon Craft Services

A daily hub with lively craft conversations, a touch-and-try display of Canon equipment, a place to meet, relax, and reboot with industry colleagues, and coffee and snacks for filmmakers to enjoy.

Moderated by David Leitner, Contributing Editor of Filmmaker Magazine and DP of Tree Man

Hear from Jim Chressanthis, ASC (Cesar's Last Fast), Dana Kupper (Life Itself), and Nick Higgins (The Lion's Mouth Opens and 2013's breakout The Crash Reel) about why the Cinema EOS C300 camera is their tool of choice for documentary work.

3pm

Craft Conversation | Song One's John Guleserian on Crossing the Bridge from DSLR to Cinema-Style Filmmaking

Moderated by Neil Matsumoto, Editor of HDVideoPro

It's hard to imagine Guleserian's first Sundance feature was just three years ago, with Grand Jury Prize-winning tour de force Like Crazy, shot on the EOS 7D camera. The three-time Sundance alum--back again with Song One--breaks down the transition from Canon DSLR camera to cinema-style filmmaking and his experience with the Cinema EOS C300 camera, C500 camera, and everything in between.

A daily hub with lively craft conversations, a touch-and-try display of Canon equipment, a place to meet, relax, and reboot with industry colleagues, and coffee and snacks for filmmakers to enjoy.

1pm

Craft Conversation | Depth of Field: The Canon Cinema EOS C100 Camera

Ben Kasulke (Laggies, Rat Pack Rat) dissects how he used the Cinema EOS C100 camera on an upcoming low-budget indie, while director/cinematographer Sterlin Harjo (This May Be The Last Time) and four-time Sundance alum Ondi Timoner (A Total Disruption) weigh in on the camera's documentary and web series features.

3pm

Canon Spotlight: CNN Original Series

Location: New Frontier Microcinema (136 Heber Ave)

CNN, the long-standing authority for television news, made a splash in 2013 with their unconventional, personal, and powerful original series. Join the filmmakers behind Morgan Spurlock's award-winning Inside Man, Alex Gibney's Death Row Stories, and Robert Redford and BCTV's Chicagoland for a discussion about the lengths they go to capture their compelling stories and why they rely on Canon. The 90-minute spotlight and screening will offer a behind-the-scenes look into these CNN shows.

5pm-6pm

Canon Closing Cocktail Hour

Festival attendees are invited back to Canon Craft Services after the Spotlight screening and panel to demo Canon gear.

The daily one hour show Live@Sundance, which will provide the most comprehensive overview of Sundance Film Festival 2014 for the online community, will be shot exclusively on Canon Cinema EOS cameras, with support from YouTube, Weber Shandwick, HP, and Adobe Creative Cloud. This show will be streaming to YouTube.com/SFF at 11am MT from YouTube's venue on Main Street

To find out more about Canon at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, please visit our Cinema EOS website or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Vimeo. During the Festival, join the conversation with #Canon #Sundance.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. With approximately $40 billion in global revenue, its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), ranks third overall in U.S. patents registered in 2013† and is one of Fortune Magazine's World’s Most Admired Companies in 2013. In 2013, Canon U.S.A. has received the PCMag.com Readers’ Choice Award for Service and Reliability in the digital camera and printer categories for the tenth consecutive year, and for camcorders for the past three years. Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest level of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. Canon U.S.A. is dedicated to its Kyosei philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss and follow us on Twitter @CanonUSA.